


Unforeseen

by heeroluva



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Episode Tag, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Pack Dynamics, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-12
Updated: 2012-08-12
Packaged: 2017-11-11 23:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heeroluva/pseuds/heeroluva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monroe doesn't give Nick enough credit. </p><p>Post "Last Grimm Standing"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unforeseen

**Author's Note:**

> I started this after "Last Grimm Standing". I was going through my WIP folder and found it, and decided to finish it since it was almost done. Written because I don't really seen Monroe as the alpha in the relationship.

Monroe ran because he had no choice. The desire to fight, to kill, to feel his opponent’s flesh give beneath his claws and teeth, to taste the ambrosia of fresh blood, thrashed beneath the steel of his control. For Nick, because of Nick, Monroe had held it together in the ring, resisting the temptation to just let go. Imagining Nick’s disappointment, the disgust, and even worse, the possibility of fear if he saw firsthand what Monroe was really capable of had given him strength to endure. Despite the fear and pain that buffeted him and the promise of it ending if he just gave in, Monroe had denied the pull. Knowing full well just how alluring that road was, he wasn’t sure if he had it in him to escape that life again. 

For Nick, Monroe had kept it together until the police arrived. For himself, he’d run because the perceived threat of the small quarters of a jail cell or, even worse, an interrogation room, would have been too much for Monroe’s raw nerves.

Finally home, safe in his territory, Monroe cleaned himself up as he fought against the sudden grief that replaced the desire for blood. It shouldn’t have been possible. It defied all laws of nature and went against the natural order of things. Maybe it was because Monroe had been so long separated from his own kind, from any kind really. He’d been lonely for a long time, but that was a price he could pay to keep his sanity. He couldn’t go back to what he’d been. It wasn’t worth it. It hadn’t been until Angelina had threatened Nick that Monroe realized it: at some point somehow Nick had become pack.

Never mind the fact that Nick wasn’t even a Blutbad, that he was a human and, worst of all, a Grimm, Nick in all his bumbling through a world that he knew so little about had somehow become one of the most important things in Monroe’s life. Pack. Humans had their cute little families: a mom and dad, their two point five kids, maybe a live-in in-law, but that didn’t even compare. 

Sure Blutbaden had family, but bloodlines came second to pack. It wasn’t the same. Not even close. Pack was everything, and it was the loss of that, the sole thing that had almost prevented Monroe from reforming. That loss more than anything had been the hardest, and each day it had battered at him, stronger than even the allure of red. But Monroe had survived, found ways to bury the longing that had never really gone away. Not until Nick. 

Monroe never thought he’d have that again, not unless he’d lost himself in blood again. Yet here he was, in control of himself and part of a pack. It didn’t matter that it was a pack of two. That he had a pack at all was all that mattered. And in the end, it didn’t really matter that Nick wasn’t a Blutbad, that he was a human and a Grimm, because Monroe had never been a conventional kind of guy. Why start now?

So it didn’t come as nearly the shock that it should have when Nick had moved from the position of packmate to alpha. It was laughable, but as Nick had attempted to walk away and cut ties, the only way he had known to protect Monroe, the actions spoke to that primal part of him, made him respect Nick even more. The alphas put the needs of the pack before their own, making protection of the pack their top priority. And in return the pack members gave their loyalty and protected their alphas from themselves.

Monroe knew that the quality of their friendship wasn’t reflected in Nick’s words, seeing the action for what it was: a sacrifice for the pack. And in that instant, Monroe had realized exactly what Nick was, and felt the closest thing to peace that he’d had in a long time. With a sense of calm that belied his words, Monroe had clearly shown his hand. He wasn’t sure which of them had been more relieved. 

Nick toddled along blindly into danger like a child without a care in a world. Tonight was a perfect example as he walked into a room full of Wesen who would have happily ripped him to shreds. His steadfast determination, his sense of honor and his need to protect and save everyone seemed to overwhelm what common sense Nick may have possessed. He was like a cat, heedless of the danger of the situation until it was too late, so focused he was.

So Monroe would do his best to guide him, to keep him alive. He knew his choice and actions wouldn’t gain him many friends, but he’d stopped caring what the others had thought about him a long time ago. When he turned his back on his baser instincts, Monroe had pissed on the expectations of others. But even so, he’d tried to keep a low profile, having found it was easier to control himself without the presence of others of his kind tempting him. After tonight any remaining anonymity he may have had was long gone. Nick brought out the worst of him, and the best. Monroe’s control was the strongest it had even been, but since Nick entered his life, each new case brought temptation around every corner.

The fault was not Nick’s. Not really. Monroe made his choice, and he didn’t regret it. However, things were so much more complicated with Nick as pack. As much as Monroe just wanted to tell Nick, he feared that Nick just wouldn’t get it, and Monroe wasn’t sure if he could handle that type of rejection. As the minutes ticked into hours, Monroe couldn’t help the sting he felt when Nick didn’t stop by, didn’t even call to ask how he was. It was stupid to expect it. Nick was his friend, but he was human, and Monroe needed to stop expecting Nick to react like a Blutbad. Monroe didn’t fault Nick, his time with Juliette, his need to keep some semblance of a normal human life, no matter how stupid it was. What he had was enough. It had to be. 

 

Nick knew what Monroe thought of him: that he was a total novice. And while it was true that Nick knew next to nothing about the world he’d suddenly found himself thrust into, he’d been a cop for over a decade, and was far from being a rookie detective. Nick did his research. He just preferred to have someone to corroborate information that came from books that were older than the country. Monroe happened to be the only one that he’d encountered who knew he was a Grimm and hadn’t run from him or tried to kill him.

At first, Nick had tried to keep their relationship professional, but that hadn’t lasted long. Monroe was surprisingly hard to keep at arm’s length, and a tentative friendship quickly grew, startling Nick as friendship wasn’t something that usually came quick to him. Nick had done his research; he was good at that. Given that Grimms were known for killing any creatures they encountered, there was a surprisingly large amount of information on the everyday lives and cultures of a number of species including Blutbaden.

Nick had searched for information on Wieder Blutbaden, but had come up empty-handed. In fact if the books were to be believed, such a thing shouldn’t even have been possible as the species was so pack-oriented. The implication was that to sever those ties and do without was surely a long and lonely death sentence. Separation from the pack was a crueler punishment than any imprisonment could be. That Monroe had chosen that of his own free will, and had survived, just increased Nick’s respect for the man.

Far from a fool, Nick knew precisely what Monroe was capable of, having seen the work of another Blutbad the same day they met. The books that Aunt Marie had left him didn’t spare any details either, showing in graphic detail the encounters that other Grimm had had with the species. However, Nick couldn’t help but trust Monroe. Nick’s instincts had said that Monroe hadn’t been the one despite what the evidence said, and Nick had been more relieved to be right than he was willing to admit.

Nick might not have recognized the signs if not for an encounter with another Blutbad causing trouble, his nose curling in disgust as he’d taken in Nick’s scent.

“Traitor,” the man had hissed. “You will not take me as a pet.”

Nick had been confused at first, thinking the man was calling him a traitor, but it had been when Monroe appeared, tackling the other Blutbad, that Nick had realized he’d meant Monroe, that the man had somehow thought that Nick was keeping Monroe as a _pet_ of sorts. Even then he hadn’t really understood, had read more, digging deeper into information packed in the trailer.

Blutbaden were notorious for only having close ties with their own kind, the bonds of pack stronger than anything. After that Nick had began to watch, wonder if it could be possible, if Monroe really saw him that way. It didn’t take long for him to realize that yes, somehow, inexplicably he’d become what shouldn’t have been possible.

It didn’t scare him like it should have.

Walking through Monroe’s silent house, Nick switched off the lights that Monroe had left on. Nick hesitated for a moment outside the bedroom door before opening it, finding Monroe laying atop the covers of his bed, likely passed out from exhaustion, the adrenaline long since worn off. That he could set foot in Monroe’s territory let alone get this close spoke volumes, both about the trust that he placed in Nick and about just how out of it Monroe really was.

Nick wouldn’t lie, seeing Monroe in that cage, he’d felt fear. Though not fear of him, but fear for his friend. Nick knew that Monroe could take care of himself, but he also knew how hard Monroe fought to hold onto the life he’d made for himself, how much it would cost him if he truly gave in.

Without thinking about it, Nick’s hand lowered to Monroe’s thick hair. The breath left his lungs with a whoosh as Nick’s back impacted with the wall, Monroe pressing into him. As strange as it was when Monroe dropped his nose to Nick’s neck, breathing in his scent, he didn’t feel threatened by the situation, just startled.

Just as quickly Monroe came to his senses, realizing what he’d done and stepping back unable to meet Nick’s eyes.

Nick couldn’t help but laugh at the expression, and it didn’t help when Monroe turned puppy-dog eyes up towards him in reproach. “You don’t give me enough credit. I’m not as dumb as you seem to think I am, just because I didn’t grow up with this knowledge like you did. I’ve done a lot of reading. I don’t have a problem with it.”

For one brief moment, Monroe looked questioning, not daring to believe than Nick meant what he thought he meant. There was an instance of fear and just as quickly a smirk crossed his face. “Remind me that next time you throw yourself at the mercy of the Wesen and don’t expect to be killed,” Monroe said, cuffing Nick on the shoulder.

Nodding, Nick smiled ruefully, glad that Monroe understood the acceptance for what it was, that it hadn’t gotten messy. They’d have to talk about it eventually; Nick had questions, but not now, not when Monroe was swaying on his feet in clear exhaustion, the bruises standing out starkly against his too pale skin.

“Get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”

Monroe opened his mouth to say something, then just as quickly closed it, turning back to the bed, seeming unsure.

“Just sleep,” Nick said, then softer,” I’ll keep the monsters away.” It wasn’t funny, not in the least, nor was it meant to be, but Nick couldn’t help the half grin as the tension drained out of Monroe, too tired to argue. Nick couldn’t profess to knowing what Monroe had gone through, but if his presence brought some comfort, it was the least he could do.


End file.
